Scott Wykoff's Blog

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Buckeye Bliss

I've realized a few things during a recent round of college trips for my son who is a rising high school senior.

First off, there are amazing schools all across the nation. We've had the pleasure of touring some of the most impressive colleges from north to south to east to west. From big to small, the schools all have been great.

I've also realized that there are still just two schools that have special meaning to me. Of course at the top of the list is my alma mater Union College. During our current college trip I realized Ohio State University comes in second on my list. Funny what a trip to Columbus and the "Horse Shoe" does for an Ohio native from Cleveland.

At the top of this blog, the sign at the entrance to the student union at Ohio State tells it all when it comes to my collegiate allegiance.

It was a huge thrill to be able to spend time touring the massive Ohio State campus in the Capital of the state where I grew up. To say I have been a fan of the Buckeyes over the years would be an understatement.

Being a graduate if Union College in Schenectady, NY, my second-place ranking of Ohio State becomes more clear when you hear where I first took my family on our visit to Columbus this week. Two words. Ohio Stadium.

"Nestled snugly on the banks of the Olentangy River, stately Ohio Stadium is one of the most recognizable landmarks in all of college athletics," is how the official web site of Buckeyes athletics leads off its description of the field simply known to so many as the "Horse Shoe".

It was so exciting to arrive at Ohio Stadium and find Gate 18 open. We walked right into the 102,329 seat stadium and took in all it had to offer. It has been 34 years since I last walked through the turnstiles at Ohio Stadium. On that Saturday afternoon I was the guest of my friend Jimmy Nueger and his father. Archie Griffin, the only 2-time Heisman Trophy winner, led Buckeyes to victory.

If you have recently seen an Ohio State game on ESPN or the Big Ten Network, you've seen the school's commercial where four Ohio State students, grads or teachers spell out O-H-I-O.

Check out the Wykoff's O-H-I-O effort in Ohio Stadium.

Union and OSU couldn't be more different. Union is a private liberal arts college in Upstate New York. Ohio State is one of the biggest public universities in the nation with an enrollment of 55,000 in the middle of Ohio. Ohio State is the second largest university in the U.S. and some 53,000 students bigger than Union.

This is the first time I've ever spent time touring the massive Ohio State campus. Its size is almost mind boggling. Very big and very impressive. Sure I'll always be a big Buckeye fan, but I would have lasted about a week as a student on the sprawling campus. Academically and socially just too big for me.

The OSU campus is so big. It goes for city block after city block. Heck, the student union (above) at Ohio State is the size of The Gallery at Harborplace in Baltimore. As you can see, OSU's new student union even looks like The Gallery's arcade.

Remember how cool it was around Baltimore that summer when all those special crab statues designed by artists in town were auctioned off and placed at different locations around the city? Well, they've done the same thing around the Ohio State campus when it comes to statues of the school mascot Brutus The Buckeye.

My favorite is that one above with Brutus dressed up like the OSU band member who dots the "i" when the band performs its famous script Ohio at halftime of Buckeye games.

You also know a college is plenty big (and popular) when it houses its book store (with all all its school swag) in a Barnes & Noble.

The store manager at the Buckeye Barnes & Noble tells me that just like at OSU games at Ohio Stadium on game days folks on one side of the stadium will yell out "O-H" and fans on the other side of the store will reply "I-O".

So as it goes in the Buckeye Battle Cry, "Hit them hard and see how they fall, Never let that team get the ball, Hail, hail, the gang's all here, So let's win that old conference now."

While the mighty Union College Dutchman will always top my list, I realized on my son's college trip that Ohio State University will also always hold a special place (2nd) in my heart.

The block U of Union and the block O of Ohio State are my letters of collegiate choice.

BTW, it was my idea to stop at OSU. It was right there off of I-70 between my son's visits to Denison University in Granville, Ohio and Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Though a big Buckeye fan too, OSU is also a little big for him too.